Disruption: How and When Will the Legal Industry Transform?

Disruption has replaced stasis as the “new normal”. Tech-enabled companies have unseated entrenched market leaders across multiple industries. Social media, cloud computing SaaS, AI, Blockchain and other technology platforms have blurred the lines between work and “down time” all of which have shown disruption to play a significant role in the transformation of most organizations. The legal marketplace is changing, but not at the warp speed that is characteristic of today’s “new normal” – why? We will take a look at why, how and when we will see real change in legal services. A few topics include:

Examining the road blocks the legal industry puts up to hinder change

Understanding how the metamorphosis in law is being forged by the interplay of technology; process & project management; digitization; consumer/client activism; a new buy/sell dynamic; machine learning; metrics; demand for better efficiencies; corporate delivery models with different performance/reward standards; capital and re-regulation

Identifying who will shape the delivery of legal services

Discussing when we will see more than drips of change and actual disruption to the legal field (both in-house and law firms)

Sam Davenport

Dana Huppert

Scott Milner

Co-leader and one of the original attorneys in Morgan Lewis’s eData practice, Scott A. Milner counsels and advises companies in electronic discovery and information governance processes and best practices. He works with Morgan Lewis’s lawyers across practice groups to tailor strategies and discovery management plans for clients around the globe, in numerous industries and disciplines. […]

Fireside Chat | The Future Ready Lawyer

Faced with increasing information complexity, changing client demands and shifting market forces, legal professionals are turning to technology to help them achieve better outcomes. However, not all lawyers are doing so at the same pace, and those already leveraging technology have an early adopter advantage, including higher profitability and readiness to take on change, according to the findings of the 2019 Future Ready Lawyer Survey from Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory.

Stacey Caywood

Stacey Caywood is the CEO of Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory, a leading provider of information, software and integrated workflow solutions for legal and business compliance professionals worldwide. The division has operations in Europe, the United States, and Asia Pacific. Ms. Caywood was previously President and CEO of Wolters Kluwer Law & Business, where she […]

Dean Sonderegger

With extensive knowledge and experience in professional software and services, Dean Sonderegger directs Wolters Kluwer Legal and Regulatory U.S., a leading provider of information and expert solutions for legal and business compliance professionals and part of the Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory division. In this role he is responsible for accelerating the vision and strategy […]

Embracing Cultural Transformation – How to Get Everyone On-Board!

To drive digital change, legal departments and law firms need great ideas and they need great people. The technology is rarely the reason for failure, in fact, digital technologies are disruptive and cause enterprises the need to change policies, processes and procedures. So, when leading digital transformation, how can you actively foster an environment that supports change while breaking down silos that traditionally exist between business and IT, particularly in an industry that is traditionally known to be slow to change? In this session we will look to answer questions such as:

How do you get everyone to adopt transformational objectives?

What can you do to make all your employees comfortable with new technology and the change it fosters both internally and externally?

Who do you enlist to become leaders to best demonstrate and model the new ways of working to garner support?

How do you harvest ideas, nurture innovation and get staff excited about change?

When do you need to bring new talent on-board to replace those unwilling to change?

Felice Gray-Kemp

Felice Gray-Kemp is Chief Legal and Administrative Officer of Planet Alpha Corporation; a “green” technology innovator. Previously, she was a leader with Fortune 50 and other iconic global businesses. The recovered tax attorney co-develops, drives and sustains the best practices ”Legal Departments” have needed to efficiently support ”The Business.” Felice embraces the possible. In her […]

Kate Orr

Stacy Smith Walsh

Using AI to Streamline the Contract Management Process

In order to improve operations and competitiveness, businesses are increasingly using contract management software. In this session we will examine challenges and look at how Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology could improve and solve these issues. Large organizations manage an average of 20,000 – 40,000 active contracts. AI enhanced contract management is a necessity, not a luxury. This session will delve into:

Using AI to break silo mentality so the entire company is engaged

Using out-of-the-box AI tools to expedite your own digital transformation

Eradicating duplication, and reducing contract inconsistencies

Real-time contract analytics that equip executives and the General Counsel with data driven decisions

Sarvarth Misra

Sarvarth Misra is a leading legal innovator with extensive experience in the legal technology and legal services sector. As Co-Founder and Co-CEO, Sarvarth is responsible for ContractPodAi®’s development, strategy and growth. Sarvarth has led the conceptualizing, designing and the development of ContractPodAi® and continues to lead all new innovation initiatives, new routes to market and […]

Managing the Impact of Social, Mobile and Collaborative Apps on eDiscovery

Communication methods have changed amongst consumers, employees and even organizations. Companies are talking to customers on social media, collaborating internally in the cloud or apps and everyone is conducting business on mobile devices. What this means is there are more sources of ESI to worry about. This session will take a look at how you can understand what was said in a chat, the meaning behind emojis and content that was shared on a white board in a conference room all has to be examined. We will also cover common best practices and lessons learned to adapt eDiscovery processes and workflows to address today’s digital reality.

Networking Break

Information Governance: The New Rules of Document and Records Management

Professional ethics and risk management require law firms and legal departments to develop strong practices throughout the lifecycle of any matter. As we continue to move through this digital world and see documents and records coming through in a variety of manners, a focus on information governance is a must. This session will examine the “new” rules and ethics of matter/case file and document management within the context of sound governance principles.

James Sherer | Chair of the Information Governance Practice Team |BakerHostetler

James Sherer

Understanding the Role of Legal Operations: Taking Legal from Above the Line to Below the Line

More and more legal departments and law firms are recognizing and embracing the benefits of a Legal Department Operations Manager/Director. In this interactive session we will examine the reasons why organizations need legal operations and what those individuals do for their legal departments in-house or for their law firms.

Networking Luncheon

The Practical Application of AI in the Law

Artificial Intelligence is sweeping through our daily lives and stirring up a frenzy of speculation and fears across all industries and consumers. For the legal profession, the use of AI to perform such tasks as research, contract analysis and customer/client relations is both exciting and scary. In this interactive session, we will discuss different case studies as to how lawyers are using AI and how to use it to enhance your job rather than worry about it replacing you.

Digital Forensics and e-Discovery

Fortune 500 companies are split into two camps – those who place d-Discovery capabilities within their legal departments; and those who camp e-Discovery within Digital Forensics. This will be a discussion of why this happens, and the advantages and disadvantages of both methods.

Marc Yu | Group VP of e-Discovery & Digital Forensics | SunTrust Bank

Marc Yu

Hiring By the Metrics: Utilizing HR Technology and Analytics for Recruitment and On-Boarding

The legal profession has historically looked at what law schools people have gone to and what judge they clerked for, and those items determined whether someone was going to be a good-hire or not. However, in this changing and evolving environment, law firms and in-house counsel need to look at a variety of things when determining who will be the best fit for their team – luckily, metrics can assist in the recruitment and on-boarding for your teams of today and tomorrow. This session, will examine how organizations can use metrics to improve their hiring process to ensure they have the best and most effective teams.

To Be a Legal Powerhouse of the Future You Must have a Workforce for the Future

Legal, like most industry sectors, is becoming increasingly digitalized. In response, law firms and in-house counsel must learn how to adapt their operating models and be prepared to adapt at more frequent intervals; this means, they also need to assess the skills and capabilities required to support and sustain the requisite changes. As we discuss the challenge to finding, attracting, growing and retaining the skills in a digital world competing for the same resources, we will look at:

How to increase appeal as an employer to attract new talent

Examine the skills gap in your current talent and learn how to best develop current employees

Review outsourcing options to provide ability to ramp up or down based on demand

Learn to tap into innovation with crowdsourcing

Identify what your future department/company will look like and plan for it now

Linda Novosel | Chief Innovation & Value Officer | BLANKROME

Senen Garcia | General Counsel/Managing Partner | TokenPay/SG Law Group

Senen Garcia

Linda Novosel

Networking Break

The Role of Alternative Legal Service Providers (ALSPs) in Today’s Legal World

ALSPs can come in all sizes and they are leveraging all different shapes and sizes of business models. Technology-enabled services allow ALSPs to provide higher value and take on different and more complex tasks. In this session we will discuss trends in the roles ALSPs are playing today, including:

The growth and progress of the ALSP industry – what types of services

Understanding how and why both law firms and corporate legal departments are utilizing ALSPs

Determining how to leverage the ALSPs’ capabilities

Examining ways that law firms are incorporating and experimenting with ALSP strategies or affiliates

21st Century Data Management for Legal Departments and Law Firms

This session will provide a deep dive into the three-legged stool of people, processes and platforms that has enabled ongoing agility and modernization. Topics covered will include the “un-silo-ing” of various data repositories, robust extranet and knowledge-management offerings and collaboration with technology providers.

Robert Brownstone

Big Data & the Business of Law: Data-Driven Insights on Clients, Business Operations, Finances and Talent Management

90% of today’s data has been produced in the last two years; and that number is going to continue to increase exponentially as we continue to use mobile devices, social media, etc. Big Data has been a key term in almost every industry for the last few years; but now finally in-house and outside counsel are embracing the insights that can be actualized through Big Data. In this session, we will look at how data can provide insights into such things as:

Marlene Gebauer

Legal Intranets are Back & Better than Ever — Building a Legal Intranet

As corporate legal departments and law firms are trying to ensure that they are not the “bottleneck” that is expected and building a modern intranet that combines social platforms and project management applications as well as document, contract and matter management can be a tremendous asset. In this session, we will discuss why investing the time and resources now to build a self-service intranet will pay off in the future, for both your legal team and the business teams you serve.

Julie Cremeans | Senior Director of Legal Operations | Fair.com

Julie Cremeans

Julie has more than 30 years of experience across multiple industries. She’s been a coder, a book editor, an international trade expert and an entrepreneur. Her current focus is on driving innovation in the legal ecosystem of a hypergrowth Silicon Beach tech startup that she helped build.

Lessons Learned from the Legal AI Efficacy Report

Never has there been more noise in the legal marketplace about a technology as there is today about so-called Artificial Intelligence. Yet the effectiveness of the tools remains fuzzy. Published for the first time in August 2019, The Legal AI Efficacy Report provides the comprehensive, independent analysis needed to evaluate what legal AI tools do—and how effective each actually is. This session is designed to cut through the hype and help law firms and law departments understand and evaluate their options for deploying AI solutions for specific use cases.

Law firms are struggle do improve their security, meet client vendor risk management requirements and compliance obligations, and having to do more with limited staff. Security Operations Center (SOC)-as-a-service provides a path forward to solve this conundrum. This TED-Talk-style session describes current cybersecurity challenges and new approaches to improving security, responding to client questionnaires, and meeting compliance obligations while avoiding staffing shortage headaches.

Information Governance: The New Rules of Document and Records Management

Professional ethics and risk management require law firms and legal departments to develop strong practices throughout the lifecycle of any matter. As we continue to move through this digital world and see documents and records coming through in a variety of manners, a focus on information governance is a must. This session will examine the “new” rules and ethics of matter/case file and document management within the context of sound governance principles.

Use Case Demo | Buried in Paperwork No-More: Building the Business Case and Demonstrating the ROI of Implementing e-Billing and Matter Management Technology

We all know that technology can often bring efficiencies and cost savings; but proving and showing how any new technology investment can effectively measure and communicate its benefits to key stakeholders is not always easy. In this session we will examine such things as:

How in-house counsel can decrease legal spend with outside counsel

How law firms can better manage their vendors for increased savings

How both in-house counsel and law firms can see an increase in staff efficiency

How matter management technology can reduce or mitigate risk for both law firms and in-house counsel

Real-World case studies as to the benefits organizations have reaped by implementing these technologies

Networking Break

Blockchain technology is being seen as the backbone of a new type of internet. It allows for transactions to be kept on a digital ledger which is shared by everyone in that network. Blockchain is also intricately connected with another concept called smart contracts. In this session we will examine how blockchain and smart contracts technology are being used to build tools and infrastructure to automatically execute contracts, collect data about disputes for quicker resolutions, record commercial transactions and verify legal documents and more.

Understanding the “New” Tension Between Security and Privacy

Given the GDPR, pending legislation in California (and other states) as well as proposals to some federal rules, and all the available data points from social media, biometrics, and mobile devices; and the very real security threats that every company faces, we must examine security vs. privacy. The tensions are real, the risks are real, and there is no defined “best way” to remediate. This session will share insights as to how to manage the relationship with legal and IT to ensure privacy and security.

Patrick Burke

Seth Eichenholtz

Innovation is Driving New & Evolving Roles in Legal

As legal innovation continues to advance through the advance of technology, the focus on client experience and cost-cutting and revenue making opportunities; there has been an expansion in roles. In this interactive session we will discuss such things as:

What types of new roles have emerged in the legal world due to innovation

How typical positions have evolved

What types of technologies are being utilized

Which diverse hiring practices are being employed to encourage innovation